Japan Earthquake

I don't have a whole lot to say that you probably already haven't heard.  Needless to say, this is a devastating tragedy and the images and videos coming out of the country is hard to watch, but amazing at the same time.

We have become such a "need to know now" populace that many many people watched the Tsunami happen live on international television.  Social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter have become the go to source for information.  While this is convenient, it also goes again the ideal of true journalism.  The majority of what you read on twitter, might be pure garbage or comes from an unreliable source.  There is an upside to this however.  Just for example, word can be passed along quickly about shelters or messages from loved ones.

It makes it hard to believe we ever lived in a time where information was hard to come by, as know you can't get away from it, nor do you want for fear of not being included.  If you have a little knowledge, you can access just about anything from anywhere know.  You can know what you favorite celebrity had for breakfast...

Anyway, back to this event.  An earthquake of this magnitude creates other side effects, for instance the tsunami.  After all the destruction from the earthquake, the waters rose and began pushing all that debris, causing further damage.  It is going to take a long time for Northern Japan to recover from this and it may never be the same.  As for the strength of the earthquake.  8.9 is very very strong.  I wouldn't be surprised to hear reports from some scientists that say that this quake might have slightly shifted the angle of the Earth's axis, similar to earthquake from Indonesia a few years back.

The effects that will be felt across the Pacific, when the tsunami reaches the Western coast of North America will be minor.  The reports I have seen from Hawaii only report a 7 foot rise in water levels.  There maybe a few spots that deal with some minor damage, in extreme low lying areas, but for the most part it will go generally unnoticed.  This should be used a test of the emergency systems along the west coast, because a major tsunami could strike.

Stepping down from my soap box.  More weather information later on.

-Jon K.